Quote:
Originally Posted by SINNN
Well, it states that its GPS. Not a-gps. But you never know with Sprint and HTC. They might change their text later.
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Here's the deal as far as I know. There is a *ton* of confusion on these issues.
The Touch and Mogul will
both get this update to enable aGPS. I also think all new WM devices will have this enabled on Sprint in the future.
Now, do they mean "GPS" or "aGPS" and what is the difference? As it turns out, the terms can overlap significantly.
- GPS means standalone and strictly satellite based. These are devices that typically have a built-in SirfIII chip. They are quite rare though they exist.
Here's where it gets tricky though:
aGPS can operate in 4 different modes, depending on
(1) Device hardware and
(2) Network setup, including:
- Standalone (only satellite)
- Server + satellite
- Server + Triangulation + satellite (data interruption)
- Server + Triangulation + satellite (no data interruption)
In order for a device with aGPS to operate in standalone it
absolutely needs an internal GPS antenna in order to receive good satellite reception. And that is the big question here: Do any Sprint devices currently have a built in GPS antenna? The answer is evidently (definitely for the Mogul)
no. (Shadowmite
#1 +
#2)
Now the
HTC Kaiser/AT&T Tilt also has "GPS" (read gpsOne/aGPS) but it
does have an internal antenna and therefore can operate in standalone mode. It would seem extremely odd for Sprint to have devices released like the Touch with an internal GPS antenna, but not have it activated and
AFAIK, no one has found such an antenna.
Because of this, unless future WM devices come with a built in GPS antenna, they will
always rely on the servers and a data connection. This seems like the case recently with the upcoming Treo 800w. It looks like Palm wanted to have an internal antenna and Sprint does not (the source is someone who leaked the earlier mockup of the 800w):
Quote:
Originally Posted by jrinehart
As far as who decides the build of the phone, technically are decided by Palm. Sprint asks for a feature and Palm says yes or no. Conversely, Palm included true GPS in the 800w (or so I'm told) but Sprint is looking like they will only enable aGPS. It would seem that it goes both ways.
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This is all not a "bad" thing necessarily. As many here point out, it sure beats nothing
Also aGPS can be quite accurate and even give you coordinates indoors. But, they do not work if you have no cell signal.
Case in point: BlackBerry 8830 (CDMA/GSM) on Sprint:
source
Quote:
Q – Does GPS work internationally?
A – No, the GPS chipset on the 8830 is disabled when the device is in GSM/GPRS mode due to Qualcomm requirement.
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Now, will we be able to freely use this aGPS with any 3rd party program like TomTom, LiveSearch or Google Maps? I have no idea.
For a similar write up, see my article at WMExperts:
http://www.wmexperts.com/articles/ru...tch_on_gp.html
PS: Yeah, this stuff is confusing. If anyone has information that contradicts mine or they have something that shows what I wrote is drastically off-base, please post it! lol